This invention relates to comminuters for pulverizing solid material and, more particularly, relates to an improved comminuter roll that assists in moving the end product out of the comminuter.
Comminuters can be used to pulverize a wide array of solid materials and a typical comminuter using pulverizing rollers is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,366,928, issued Jan. 4, 1983; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,477,028, issued Oct. 16, 1984, to John H. Hughes. In these prior art comminuters the rollers are arranged in an upright position and form a comminuting chamber. The roller arrangement is mounted within a housing of some type that surrounds the group of rollers. The material to be broken down is fed into the top of the comminuting chamber and driven orbitally at a speed sufficient to be forced against the comminuting rollers. Puncturing elements are present on the rollers to break the material into smaller pieces by a rolling and puncturing action. The pieces then fall to the bottom of the chamber and exit the chamber through some screening and exit arrangement formed at the bottom of the comminuting chamber. Typically, the exit from the comminuting chamber is formed along the outer perimeter of the base of the housing.
In certain instances, the particles of material being formed in the comminuter remain in a mass that continually moves about the interior of the comminuting chamber and the particles do not move to the lower perimeter of the comminuting chamber so that they can pass through the screening and exit arrangement at the bottom of the comminuter housing. There is a need, therefore, for some means to assist the particles of material in making their way outwardly to the perimeter of the comminuter housing chamber and down to the exit means.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a novel structure for the comminuting rolls so that they assist in moving the particles of comminuted material from the interior of the comminuting chamber toward the outer perimeter of the housing surrounding the comminuting rolls. It is another object of this invention to provide such rolls that are easily retrofitted into existing comminuters and that are relatively easy to install and maintain and economical to produce.